The effectiveness of a cochlear implant system may be affected by a number of different factors. For example, surgical complications (e.g., a misalignment of an electrode array within the cochlea, destruction of hair cells during implantation of a cochlear implant, etc.) and post-surgery complications (e.g., residual hearing loss, wax buildup in the ear, infections, and component failure) may be detrimental to cochlear implant system performance. Unfortunately, many of these factors are not readily discernible, thereby making it difficult or impossible to account for them (e.g., by adjusting one or more control parameters governing an operation of the cochlear implant system). Hence, a patient may unknowingly suffer from sub-optimal cochlear implant system performance.
Moreover, some patients already fitted with a cochlear implant system may be candidates for an electro-acoustic stimulation (“EAS”) system (i.e., a system that provides both electrical and acoustic stimulation). It would be desirable to objectively test whether a patient is a candidate for an EAS system before upgrading the patient's cochlear implant system to an EAS system.